Camping Party

Invites

Fold the two corners down on the long side of a narrow rectangular sheet of paper into the shape of a triangle with the two corners forming the flaps of a "tent". Decorate the outside of the tent with small bug stickers (or use colored pencils to draw them). You can draw grass along the bottom of the tent and add a cut out copy of the birthday kid's head and paste it on the edge of one of the flaps so it appears as if the head is peeking out from inside the tent.

Preparation

Set up tents in back yard and invite kids over in the late afternoon

Start a campfire and have kids help gather firewood

Let kids search for green sticks for weenie roast which parents can whittle into sharp points. Pronged twigs work the best.

Food

serve hot dogs

burgers

campfire fries

roast corn on cob

hamburger & vegetable foil packs

pita pizzas

ants on a log

pretzel logs or sticks

smores

campfire cupcakes

hot chocolate

cooler full of drinks

Breakfast

(a cast-iron pan placed over the grill works best for cooking breakfast)

scrambled eggs

egg in cup

bacon/sausage

pancakes

orange cakes

orange juice/hot chocolate

Recipes

Campfire Fries: cut up potatoes into wedges and spray with non-stick spray & seasoning, wrap in foil and cook in fire 45 minutes

Corn-on-Cob: soak corn (in husks) in cold water for at least 30 minutes. You can either lay the corn on top of a grill over the hot coals or they can be placed alongside the rocks used in your fire pit. Cook until the very last layer of corn husk (closest to the corn) is light brown. Pullout of fire with tongs or flip out with long stick and let cool before you butter and salt it.

Hamburger & Vegetable Foil Packs: put hamburger patty, canned potatoes, carrots etc., pat of butter & seasonings on several layers of heavy-duty foil, wrap and poke several small holes in the bottom side of the foil packs to allow the drippings to drain out. Place foil packs on top of grill over fire.

Pita Pizzas: top pitas with your choice of toppings and place on foil covered grill over fire until cheese melts

Ants on a Log: spread peanut butter on celery sticks and place raisins in a row down the length of the celery stick

Orange Cake: cut oranges in half and carefully remove the fruit from the peel, leaving the peel intact. Prepare a boxed cake mix according to the directions (vanilla or chocolatewould probably taste the best) and pour the batter into the empty peel halves. Wrap in foul and bake in the hot coalsof the fire until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Egg in Cup: using small, waxed paper cups,place an egg in each cup and add enough water to fill cup close to the top. Using tongs, set the cups very close to the fire (or on top of the grill over a hot fire). The very tops of the cups of the cups may catch fire but the rest of the cup which contains water will not burn; instead, the water will come to a boil and cook your egg. Remove from fire with tongs when they;ve cooked the desired amount of time.

Campfire Themed Cupcakes: cupcakes decorated with chocolate covered pretzel stick "logs" roll red/orange/yellow fruit candy out & cut out flames, stick n frosting and lat pretzels around

And don't forget those toasted marshmallows!

Activities

Make firefly jars by saving glass jars with screw on tops (spaghetti jars work well).Punch holes in the top of the jars using a large nail and hammering it into the lid several times .At dusk, let the kids catch fireflies (make sure they release them by morning).

sing campfire songs ( there are many lyrics to be found online)

Games

pass the marshmallow (like hot-potato game)

catch the most fireflies in a set amount of time; the kid with the most in their jar wins

scavenger hunt for camping related items; the first person to find all items on list wins a prize

craft - make hemp bracelets or decorate visors

guess what's in the backpack game (filled with camping items)

camping word scrambles, crossword puzzles or word search